


Dawn of a New Romance

by kohaku_shi



Series: The Scrap Heap (One Piece Edition) [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Luffy has a twin, Luffy's twin is called Lallie, Mostly Gen, Multi, Original Character(s), Reincarnation, Self-Insert, Slow Build, mostly self-indulgent, or Lal for short
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2018-12-21 06:50:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11938623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kohaku_shi/pseuds/kohaku_shi
Summary: Cross-Post from Fanfiction.net"In a world where Luffy is practically half-raised by his twin sister...well, not much changes, to be honest. But hey, that doesn't mean things aren't different at all! For one, even if he's still the same old Luffy, having a bond with a twin who's done her best to raise him definitely changes some things." (SI/OC-Insert AU)One Piece, SI-OC/Twins!Verse (Now Continued)





	1. Setting Sail To A New Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> Something written for the original idea of a branching Monkey Twins/SI-OC AU. It mostly follows some of the original series, but I have different branches where it can either follow closer to canon or diverge completely. We'll see, though. I have two more for the 'prequel' of this on backburner, but if I manage to get another chapter or two done (I'm not counting omakes, which there are several of, not to be posted yet in case this does become an actual series), I might make it an actual fic/series.
> 
> Anyways, here you go. A mostly self-indulgent SI-OC Monkey Twin AU...
> 
> No End Notes this time. If I manage to get another one out, then I might explain more~

* * *

 

It was finally time. With the wind at his back, and a hand on one of his most important treasures to keep it from flying off, Luffy was finally setting off on his journey to become the Pirate King.

A wide grin took up nearly half of the boy -no, teen's face.

"Shishishi~ Just wait, everyone… I'll be seeing you again soon enough!" The raven haired teen exclaimed, excited at the prospect of not only sailing out, but to see his siblings again.

Soon, very soon, he'd be able to see the brother he hadn't seen in nearly three years, along with the sibling he'd seen much more recently. But that was okay, reunions were supposed to be a good thing, so even if it hadn't been very long, and even if they'd all still kept in touch, Luffy would still be excited to find his 'precious people' again…

"Just wait, soon I'll be even stronger. And then… Then…

" _ORE WA KAIZOKU NI NARU ZE-!*_ " he yelled, announcing his dream, no,  _intention_  to the world.

Even if no one could hear his declaration at the moment, that didn't make the moment any less poignant to the calf-eyed brunette.

The world would find out about it soon enough, anyway.

* * *

Back on Dawn Island, a young woman rummaged around an otherwise empty house, huffing just a bit as she ran around gathering  _this_  and  _that_  item which may or may not be important. Rushing about as she was, trying to pack, it seemed as if she were causing even more disarray, as she resisted the urge to hiss.

She'd gotten the den-den mushi call earlier, getting confirmation of the plans that had been so meticulously made. (Even if the others had laughed, there was  _no way_  she was going to let  _anything_  mess up this all-important meeting of theirs!) Muttering to herself as she became more frenzied in her motions, the girl almost didn't notice the familiar green-haired figure making its way towards the soon to be completely emptied home.

"I can't  _believe_  that idiot forgot to pack extra clothes! And underwear! Oh geez, that rubber-brained idiot. I bet all he took was  _one_  extra set of clothes, and whatever meat he could carry on him. That dumbass!" Running this way and that as she continued to pick up one thing only to remember another, the frantic girl almost whined, worry written all across her features, as she took a moment to pause, staring blankly around the room as she tried to remember what she'd been in the middle of doing before her impromptu little rant.

A familiar chuckle snapped her out of it, however, as a familiar and soothing voice chimed out. "I don't think insulting your brother will be of any help, Lallie-chan," an amused expression on her face half hidden by the hand she'd brought to attempt to stymie her giggled.

"Makino-san!" The girl gasped, previously dark eyes melting into puddles of semi-dark chocolate in the lighting as she turned to face the entryway, sunlight streaming through partially curtained windows and the open doorway behind the smiling green-haired woman.

"Hello, dear. I tried knocking you know, but I don't think you heard me," she mused, casting a look around the mess that littered the usually pristine (or, well, as pristine as the brunette before her could get it, considering who she lived with) home of the Monkey Family.

"Oh," casting her own look around the place, she flushed, embarrassment clear on her face as she gave the a sheepish grin. "Oops… I, er, I guess I got kind of carried away, heh…" Bringing up a hand to rub the back of her head in an equally sheepish motion (something she'd likely picked up from her brothers, Makino mused with a smile), the girl started picking up the things she'd left everywhere. The house looked like a cyclone of all things had whirled through the place, with all the things that had been tossed here and there in her quest to find every last thing she could think of to pack.

An already filled backpack with clothes and a few other things spilling out of it already sat on the edge of the coffee table in the sitting area, threatening to topple over and send all the clothes and hygienic items to the floor.

Aha...ha…

 _Whoops_. She thought, sweating to herself. Movement at the edge of her vision made her look up to see Makino leaning over to help pick up as well.

"Ah, Makino-san, you don't have to-" she started, only to be interrupted by the ever present kind and seemingly placid (but determined) look on her face.

"But I want to. Just think of it as my going away present for you, if you must, my little Moon," the woman mused, folding some of the clothes that had been shrewn across the room due to the frantic movements of a certain Hurricane Lal.

An embarrassed look (reminiscent of Ace's, if Makino had looked up at that moment) crossed the teen's face. "Heh, I guess… There's no winning with you is there, Makino-san," a soft look similar to her mother/sister figure's crossed her features (ones that her brothers seemed to have adopted as well).

"Mmhm, and don't you forget it~" Makino replied playfully, winking at the girl as they both fell into giggling, the air much calmer now that the younger girl wasn't in a frantic mood.

For a while, the two worked in a companionable silence, before Makino spoke up again.

"Lal-chan," she started once they were almost done, all the items piled neatly on the coffee table or the sofa's that sat around the aforementioned furniture in the sitting room.

"Hm? Yes, Makino-san?" Having calmed enough to start humming as they worked, the girl responded almost absentmindedly, part of her attention on the clothes she was sorting out now that she'd figured that a single bag wouldn't work.

...Maybe one of Grandpa's old duffel bags could work? Garp was a marine, and as a...er...Admiral? Vice-Admiral? (Lal never  _had_  been very good at remembering those sort of titles, let alone attaching names to faces on people she didn't see as often. Well, for the most part, anyway.) Well, either way, Jii-chan was a high-ranking marine, which means any equipment allocated to the man would be of higher quality as compared to the lower level marines…

Or so she assumed (she really hoped those things were still sturdy. Jii-chan never used them anyways, so she was pretty sure he wouldn't mind...much. He'd probably be more upset that they were using them for the sake of  _not_  being Marines… But Lal never had been good with that sort of thing, and considering that all of her brothers had wanted to be Pirates...well, there was no way she was involving herself in that tug-of-war, nope! Thank god Garp hadn't really tried pushing  _her_  to be a Marine...even if it rankled a little at times, but that was something for another time), anyway.

"Are you sure it's okay that you didn't see your brother off?"

Either way, turning her attention to the green-haired woman that had been like both a mother and a sister (and sometimes best friend) to her, Lallie gave the woman a wry smile. "We'll be seeing each other soon enough, so why bother?" She mused, "Besides, we'll all be seeing each other soon enough, anyway…"

Watching the fond smile on the face of the little girl she'd watched grow up into the teen she was today, Makino smiled. "I see," The smile faltered, though, when she remembered that soon, Lallie would be heading out as well. "When exactly are you planning to head out, though?" She asked, a worried expression not unsimilar to the one she hid when each of the girl's brothers had headed out crossing her face.

Sure, logically, the woman knew they could all take care of themselves, but having watched them all -or, well, seen  _most_  of them, and heard of another- grow up, she couldn't help but to worry over these precious children.

A pause met her question, before a hum of thought followed. "Well… Definitely not til Kin gets here, and I wager he'll take a while, even if everyone's in East Blue, right now," the girl mused, a fond smile crossing her features at the feline-cum-avian that was her partner and best friend.

Her existence had been an anomaly, after all, and she'd never expected to find a familiar face (or, well, maybe not face, but  _being_  considering said feline, despite retaining a feline form, no longer really looked all that much like what he had before) after coming here. Although, 'familiar' could be debated due to various different aspects. But it didn't change the joy she'd felt when she'd found  _him_  again, even if it was in a new place with a new face.

(The Bird-thing, though,  _oh boy_ , that had been a rather…  _epic_ … accident that  _none_  of them had anticipated. She couldn't say that it hadn't been useful, though, so there was that.)

"Ah, I see," Makino answered. She knew there was more to that story, considering the girl had one day, suddenly, brought back a  _mountain lion cub_  with such an ecstatic face, that none of them could really argue about it. Especially when it turned out said cub acted more like a domesticated house cat for the most part. (She still wondered, sometimes. That was surely quite a tale, but considering what she knew of the family… Well, at least the girl was eccentric in a different way from her brothers... ) "And the mess, earlier?" She asked, unable to help the mischievous twinkle that sparkled in her eye at the embarrassed look the girl gave her.

"I, well.. That is… Y-you know how Luffy is!" she stammered, beat red as she remembered her earlier...uh, frantic...ness.

A peal of bell-like laughter made the girl flush even brighter (ah, so easy to tease at times, this girl. It was in the little things like this that showed that she really was related to those boys. Even if the slight nuances in appearance didn't).

"M-Mouuu, Makino-san!" Pouting at the laughter that spilled but unable to help the slight smile at seeing one of her favorite people in a much happier state (even if she could be rather oblivious, it hadn't been hard to see that Makino had been a bit sad about their departure -or  _pending_  departure, in her case.  _Someone_  had to make sure Luffy got all the essentials he probably forgot to pack, anyway).

"Sorry, sorry~" The woman giggled, "I just couldn't help it. No wonder Shanks liked to tease you two," she mused, eyes dancing with mirth as the teen before her pouted.

"Ma-ki-no~~" Almost falling into the usual pattern, the girl sighed, giving up this time, but still unable to help the grin that, while not as large as her brother's nor as bright, seemed to light up her face as she fell into a light case of the giggles as well. Looking around again, the grin morphed into a smile, one tinged with sadness at the thought of leaving the house that had been her  _home_  for so long now…

"..." A sigh made her look back at the woman with seaweed green locks. "I'm going to miss you," she admitted. Unlike with the boys, she knew that the only girl of the sibling set would understand. "This place will be so empty when you're all gone," she murmured, taking a look around as well.

"...I know," Lal agreed, "I-" her throat caught, and she had to blink away tears. Her brothers might call it being a crybaby, but Lallie, for one, knew there was nothing wrong with a bit of sentimentality. " _I'm going to miss you too_." Somehow,  _somehow_ , she'd managed to get the words out without choking again, but stopping the tears were a lot more difficult.

Luffy had only been gone for a few hours, and already she'd been getting lonely, even if she'd managed to distract herself with packing, re-packing, and in the end making a huge mess of things in her anxiety, but that didn't change the fact that she  _would_  miss her home. Almost as much as she would miss Makino, silly old Woop Slap-ji-chan, Dadan-san, and all the others. Just like Ace leaving three years ago had worried her to no end, and Sabo even before  _that_.

And maybe, maybe she  _was_  being a bit of a crybaby, but she really couldn't help it. Lal had always been emotional, and that hadn't changed even now. So when she found herself in Makino's arms, with tears spilling past her cheeks, and more that were definitely not her own wetting her shoulder, she clung on. Tight.

Thankfully none of her brothers were there, they would probably have panicked, seeing two of the important women in their life shedding tears so freely and clinging to each other. (And probably come to all the wrong conclusions, to boot, aside from being extremely discomfited.) But it felt  _good_  to get those feelings off her chest. Off  _their_  chests.

And by the time the two of them had calmed down enough to stop crying, they'd both feel much, much lighter as they shared smiles and laughed, wiping away the stray saline that remained on their faces.

After all, even if they were far apart, they would still be family.

No matter what.

And nothing would ever change that fact. Something that both women understood, even if it was in a different way than the boys…

* * *

The sound of his stomach gurgling was the first thing he heard as he woke up, only to find himself in a small, pitch dark place.

What the- Where was he? And what the heck was going on? A pause in the mumblings he could barely hear, and another gurgle of his stomach signalled the fact that his stomach had long since digested the food that he'd brought along with him.

Geez, what time was it? Wondered the boyish teen, hands feeling around to find an exit. What was he doing-

Oh.  _Oh_. Oh yeah, he'd sealed himself into the barrel he'd been using to keep his food in (everything else he had were stuck into his pockets.  _Everything._ It'd be a pain if he lost it all just cuz he dropped his bag or whatever, right? Right. So being the genius he was, he'd decided to just carry everything he could possibly need in his pockets… Which, unfortunately, couldn't hold his food. But that was okay, that's what the barrel had been for, and what luck! He was alive, after all). That whirlpool had been getting real close, after all, and it wasn't like the small boat he'd taken could possibly last against  _that_.

Sure, he was kind of stupid, but he wasn't  _that_  stupid. Lucky he had that barrel of food, though. Except…

Now he didn't have anymore food, did he? The male thought, pouting, before he shifted a bit. Yeesh, this was really starting to feel crowded. Trying to twist around to find a better position, he huffed and gave it up for a lost cause, instead, getting ready to stretch and get out of the barrel he'd been in.

The mumbling that had stopped a while ago had started up again, but Luffy wasn't paying attention to any of that. Nope. Instead, the teen was thinking about how even though it was kind of stuffy in the barrel, he'd still managed to have a nice nap. That, and sadness that he no longer had any meat with him. He'd eaten all the dried meat (Makino had called it jerky, but that couldn't be right. Dried meat wasn't a jerk, it was delicious! Even if he'd finished it up too fast… Aha! Maybe  _that_  was why she called it jerky. It was a jerk for getting eaten up so quickly! Yeah, that made sense!)

Nodding to his own logic, the teen felt around. Arms? Check. Legs? Check. Toes- Oh no! His toes were go- No, wait! Thinking hard as he wiggled his toes and...kinda felt them? Sticking his tongue out of habit as he thought and squirmed a bit to reach his hands further down…. Yep! Still there! Er….ten? Yeah, Ten toes! They'd just been all squished between his feet, sandals, and the wood of the barrel.

Er...what came next… Hat?

"..." Squirming his arms around again, he felt a string at his neck, but that didn't necessarily mean it was his hat. Feeling up, he felt straw at his fingers, and grinned. A slight giggle ("Nihihihi!") escaping, as he felt around the hat on his head. The precious treasure that  _that_  man had given him!

Deciding that the best way to check his hat was with his eyes (he couldn't move too well inside the barrel after all), he decided to break out.

But seriously.

"Man~ That was a great nap!" he exclaimed, ignoring (or ignorant of) the surprised exclamations that sounded behind him as he stretched. "Shihihihi~" Feeling his hat, and putting it back on his head from where it'd fallen (felt fine, and he hadn't caught any sight of any holes as he'd been putting it on), he looked around.

"Huh? Where am I?" He blinked, turning towards the spot of pink he'd caught out of the corner of his eye. "Who are you?" He asked, blinking at the shocked looking pink haired dweeb (or, well, at least he thought it was one. Ace said glasses made people look like dweebs, so it had to be true! ...or, well, probably. One of the few and only -if important- things his sister had taught him was that everyone made mistakes. They were all only human after all. So even if he doubted it, that didn't mean it couldn't be true...which was confusing, sometimes, to be honest. But that wasn't very important right now).

When the pink-haired kid didn't answer, he looked around more, spotting another person. This time, he followed the other guy's gaze (also shocked looking, though Luffy really didn't know why) to two people laying on the floor. "Huh? Are they sleeping on the ground? That's not good. You shouldn't sleep on there or you'll catch a cold, y'know," he told them, some indiscernible screech behind him (something that sounded very,  _very_  vaguely like " _That's your fault, you bastard!_ " or something, thought that couldn't possibly be it, of course!) making him look back over to the other two.

Pinky still looked shocked (wow, was he doing a mimicry of a statue or something?), but the other guy was yelling and screeching so much the teen really couldn't understand what he was saying… Or maybe his ears had gotten water-locked? (He meant waterlogged, but apparently even after so many years with people trying to stuff his brain full of normal speech and word-meanings, he still made these mistakes. Ah, well, that was just one of the things that made Luffy...well, Luffy.)

Poking a finger in his ear, and picking around (until he heard a little 'pop'), the teen made an 'aha!' face, expression brightening as he found that it was much easier to understand what the weird guy was saying now.

Even if the screeches almost made him cringe,  _yeesh_ , what crawled up his...his...thing...and died? (Even if that expression was wrong, Luffy was still Luffy, so that was pretty much par for the course…  _Of course._ ) Oh, well, ignoring the yelling weirdo, he turned to the pink haired one that looked like he'd stopped trying to pretend to be a statue (though he didn't know why the guy would want to, to begin with. It really wasn't very fun, he'd tried it before, after all. ...It got  _really_  boring after a while)...

"Hey, I'm hungry~ Is there any food around here?" he asked, even as Pinky's face slowly grew more horrified, eyes trained on something behind him (he was still ignoring the yelling, after all. No point listening to people who made no sense, after all). Still, he felt like he was forgetting  _something_ …

"Oh, right! Could you give me some food… please?" He grinned, painstaking (and frustrating for the ones teaching him, to say the least) lessons on certain mannerisms having been... _somewhat_...ground into him by this point. "Shishishi!" Surely now he'd give him food, right?

As a yell sounded behind him, and Pinky started hyperventilating as he stared at the same point behind him, Luffy finally decided to find out just what was so interesting that the guy would ignore him (which was really rude! Nee-chan and Makino-san said so, which meant it had to be true!) to continue staring at it...

* * *

Coby couldn't believe it. Staring at the scene in front of him with disbelieving eyes as he pinched himself to see if he was dreaming.

"Ouch!" That-that hurt. Which meant… It... _This wasn't a dream?!_  He thought hysterically. U-Unless he'd just managed to hurt himself while rolling over in his sleep or something…

But no, he could feel and hear everything, even taste the salty sea air, as he watched desperately at what was going on. Could it be? Was… Was he...really...free? He...he wasn't still dreaming, right? This wasn't a dream... _right?_

Surely his consciousness couldn't call up something as...as  _crazy_  as what he was seeing... _right?!_

* * *

The day had started out like pretty much any other since he'd found himself trapped aboard the Pirate Ship that sailed under large woman known as Alvida. Day after day of hell, fear poignant and ever increasing as he tried to keep himself out of trouble…

The pink-haired teen (undersized as he currently was, from lack of proper nutrition) had been pretty much resigned as things went about pretty much as per usual when one was on Iron Mace Alvida's ship. They'd spotted a cruise ship in the distance, and of course, Alvida had wanted to ransack it.

Coby, being weak, had waited and watched, until Alvida had scared him into doing  _something_. So he'd hopped over (mostly to avoid getting hurt by the spiked club that the delusional woman used...not that he'd have said that to her face even a couple of hours ago), found a barrel of what he'd assumed was either Beer, Sake, Wine, or Grog of some kind.

And then everything had gotten shot to hell. A strange person had broken out of the very barrel he'd been rolling when some of the other Pirates had decided to break it open for themselves...only to find that one (well,  _two_ , actually) of theirs had been knocked out.

The person (who was either really oblivious, unobservant, or both) had pretty much ignore the other Pirate that had been left, and started questioning him. (Something about food? Coby had been too shocked to move.) And then the blade had come crashing down...and he'd shut his eyes, sure that the person was done for.

Only, instead of the sound of metal slicing through flesh, it had been the sound of metal clashing against metal… and  _breaking_. And when a voice that was  _definitely_  not the pirate's sounded, Coby had looked up...only to be amazed, as the guy had just held onto his hat and tipped it back a bit, the end of a blade stuck into the ceiling and the remaining conscious pirate staring in shock at his broken sword.

"What the heck'd ya do that for? That was really  _rude_ , y'know!" The straw hat wearing teen exclaimed, almost looking like he was sulking as he huffed. "You almost cut my hat!"

"Wh-wh-who the hell are you?!" exclaimed the blonde pirate, falling back as his broken blade fell from his hand, even as Coby had watched in confusion. What… just what had happened in the time that he'd shut his eyes?!

(He would later find out, of course, but that was a story for another time. For now, there was more of the craziness that was, apparently,  _inherently Luffy_ that he would have to get used to before he died of shock in the short time he got to now the teen -no,  _man_  in…)

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy!" The dark-haired man had responded, a wide grin on his face despite the situation (possibly just unheeding of what had apparently happened, Coby still wasn't sure). "Nice t'meet ya!"

Staring at the man with awe as the blonde pirate ran out dragging his two companions (one of which seemed to be waking up, while the other remained unconscious), Coby couldn't help but to question what had happened. Just... _what_?

Still, despite everything, as the man - _Luffy_ , he reminded himself- questioned the trio's behavior, Coby had gasped, remembering the situation. Despite his warnings, though, Luffy hadn't seemed to care very much, as he continued on to find the food he'd requested earlier.

Despite all the warnings he'd given (looking back, they probably hadn't been necessary at all), the hat-wearing male hadn't paid much attention. Laughing it off as he dug into barrels of food, even offering Coby some before consuming them all quickly enough that the pinkette had nearly done a double-take.

At some point, the teen wasn't sure how, he'd found himself sucked into the brunette's pace and had admitted his back story, only to get laughed at. And then freaking out when the other had admitted that  _his_  dream was to be King of the Pirates.

Gods, he'd been such a frazzled bundle of nerves it had been amazing he'd managed not to get a heart attack even with all the stupid and crazy situations he'd found himself in. (Thankfully, it looked like he'd be able to build up immunity to it all, something that could really only help him, once  _Garp_  got his hands on him.)

Needless to say, as Coby's confidence had found itself being raised to the point that he was shouting about capturing Alvida and becoming a marine, said person had crashed in, killing any thought of doing as he'd -maybe not quite planned, but...maybe daydreamed? Either way, the way he was, he probably wouldn't have stood a chance, anyway.

So when Luffy had asked (in what he would later learn was typical, blunt  _Luffy-style_ ) who 'the fat ugly hag' was, well… at first, Coby had freaked, but then... _Then_ , realizing he'd never get anywhere without taking a chance, the teen had found himself yelling something far, far worse at the woman. (Something he'd never even dared to  _dream_  of saying.)

And then, before he knew it, it had come to this. Watching as Alvida became nothing more than a distant speck in the sky as Luffy (who was apparently a rubber man thanks to eating one of the supposedly mythical devil fruits) blocked the fat pirate's club and  _punched_  her.

Which brought him to the present, watching as Luffy demanded a boat so they could get away before the Marines got there. Coby following along to avoid being labeled as a pirate himself, seeing as he'd been forced to be a chore boy on a pirate ship for two years now…

As Luffy laughed and requested that he set course towards the nearest town (because Luffy apparently couldn't navigate very well...if at all), Coby took a moment to watch this seemingly unassuming teen wearing a straw hat.

"..." ' _As long as I'm willing to die for it… then I can do anything, huh…_ '

* * *

Luffy stared at the exceedingly rude, fat, ugly old hag that had appeared so suddenly before them. Having been all but inhaling the barrel of apples that Dweeby had led him to. The kid was a coward, and he didn't really like him, but he was probably nice enough, considering he'd given him  _food_. And Lal had always said to be grateful for his food and be polite when someone did something nice for him, so he'd offered Pinky some of the apples before he'd started really digging in.

(He'd refused, but Luffy hadn't been too bothered by it, it just meant  _more_  for him, anyway! Which was great, of course. Though...it still didn't fill him all that well, but then, Lal had said something about balanced diet, and blah-blah-blah… He'd probably have to try to catch a sea king or something later, since there weren't exactly any other kind of beast out in the ocean right now. Well, as far as he was aware, anyway.)

As the reedy-sounding kid (seriously, even though he was only a little shorter than him, the guy still looked like a kid with all the baby fat and everything) started talking on and on, Luffy tried his best to pay attention, he still couldn't help zoning out a bit as he devoured the barrel of apples, though he did manage to get something about marines and  _accidentally_  getting on a pirate ship of all things.

Laughing at the other (he really couldn't help it, getting stuck on a pirate ship by  _accident_  and being too scared to even try to escape? Man, what a scaredy-cat!), he almost choked on a bite of apple that he quickly forced himself to swallow before snickering. "Man, you're really a  _wimpy little idiot_ , huh?" He grinned, not really meaning to hurt the other's feelings so much as just stating what he was thinking at the time. "I really don't like people like you, y'know!"

Despite the cheerful delivery, this seemed to only depress the pink-haired boy into tears, though he was laughing, so Luffy didn't think that had really hurt his feelings (people tended to be pretty weird, if he was going to be honest, but since he wasn't really thinking about it)...

"Ugh…H-How blunt…" The other teen practically whimpered (man, this kid was seriously lame, thought the straw-hat wearing brunette), "But, you're right… If only I was brave enough," the boy muttered, even as Luffy tilted his head in curious confusion.

"?" Blinking at the other as he polished off the last of the apples, and the glasses-wearing pinkette turned to him, Luffy watched as the other seemed to work up the courage to say, well,  _something_.

"H-Hey… Luffy-san… W- Exactly… why is it that you're sailing…?" asked the depressed and dweeby teen.

Grinning far more brightly at the reminder of his dream -no, his  _quest_  (which made it sound so much more awesome and adventure-y, and so much more definite, too!)- Luffy told him. "I...want to be the Pirate King!" Expression bright, he couldn't help the slight "Shishishi~" that escaped, just the thought of it made him feel so excited, the determination and joy of chasing after his dreams…

"W-... W-...  _What?!_ "

The screechy sound the other made in response was something he could have done without, though.

Disbelief was clear on the wimpy kid's face. "B- But 'Pirate King' was the title of the one who has everything in this world! Are you seriously telling me you want to look for the  _World's Greatest Treasure_ , the ' _One Piece_ '?!"

Strangely enough, the other seemed to be having trouble breathing, though Luffy couldn't really bother to care as much by this point, as the other continued on, not letting him interject in the slightest. " _DO YOU WANT TO DIE?! ALL THE PIRATES IN THE WORLD ARE LOOKING FOR THAT TREASURE!_ " the kid yelled (man, that guy had a loud voice).

"Yeah, well, so am I!" Luffy huffed, posture getting defiant as pinkette ignored him and continued to panic all on his own (seriously, what the heck?!).

"Th-That's impossible!  _Absolutely_  impossible! Completely and utterly, impossible! T-To be the Pirate King in this Era of Pirates… There's no chance! Absolutely  _No Way!_ " He all but screamed, only to actually do so when he found a fist jammed into his head as he fell back in pain.

"W- _Why did you hit me?!_ " He all but whined.

Huffing slightly as he slowly retracted his fist, he frowned. "Cuz I couldn't stand you!" Complaining about this and that, impossible this and that… This was why he hated people like him. Always thinking so negatively, yeesh! Didn't he know that anything was possible if you really put your mind to it?

...Er, well… Maybe not his  _mind_  so much as his body…

"O-Oh… Well, I'm used to it anyway…" Clearly calmer now, the pinkette gave a soft, quiet laugh. (Which really annoyed him, cuz it reminded him of something that he couldn't really seem to remember well at the moment,  _ugh_.)

Still, regardless of the pinkette's beliefs, Luffy would stand by his own. "I'm not afraid of dying," he said at last, startling the other into paying attention to him again ("Huh?"). "Since it's my dream," he explained, figuring that a coward like Pinky wouldn't really understand unless he explained it.

(Makino and the others had explained the concept so many times, it had become all but ingrained into the male by now, to be honest. Though he didn't always get why 'rephrasing' things made them apparently make sense to other people, but, whatever. Like he said, people were just plain weird, sometimes.)

"Because it's my dream, I don't mind dying for it." Even if it might hurt the ones he cared for, he knew they would understand it. His feelings. This resolution of his, just like he knew that if Ace died (as much as it would hurt him), it would be because he was trying to fulfill his own dream, as well. Even if he'd cried the day that Ace had had to leave, that didn't mean he didn't understand why.

(Although it'd be nice if Ace stopped calling him a freaking  _crybaby_ , because  _he wasn't a crybaby, damnit_. He wasn't! He was all grown up now, and he hadn't cried in a long time, so there!)

Brushing off his precious hat once more, the determined teen thought that it was probably time to head off soon. He needed to get himself a boat and some crew members, after all! Ignoring the pinkette as he muttered to himself. (Seriously, what was it with people like him and muttering? Don't they know that talking to yourself is supposed to be crazy? ...Not that he would know, but it'd been  _said_  so… it should be true, right? ….Right?)

"Besides, it's not like I  _can't_  do it," he huffed, stretching his arms a bit. "Even if it gets tough," after all, what real adventure doesn't have its rough parts? "I still think I can do it," stance confident as he got up, the other nearly missed the pinkette's words.

"...ill I…" the words were quiet, strangely wavering as their owner reached some kind of revelation. "Will I...also be able to accomplish my dream…?" Coby wondered, hands clenching as water filled his vision, dripping down his face in what was probably an unsightly way. Though the glasses-wearing teen didn't actually seem to care for once, for the moment, at least.

Looking back at the quietly crying male, Luffy stopped. Unaware of the poignant nature of the moment, but still paying full attention to the smaller teen, if only for the sincerity that colored his voice.

"If… If I'm willing to die…  _Would I be able to become a Marine…?!_ "

* * *

For a long moment, no one said anything. Mind blank, Luffy could only stare, before finally blinking and breaking the spell. A...Marine? His mind flashed back to some rather traumatic moments spent with his  _crazy kook of a grandpa_  (amazingly, Makino's words during a rare point when she'd lost her temper. It had been scary. It had been  _awesome_. And he would forever remember the moment for the rest of his life. If only because she'd somehow managed to cow  _that_  scary-ass Grandad of theirs).

(Garp had muttered something that had sounded somewhat suspiciously like 'that time of month' though Luffy had been too young to really understand it. Makino-san's reaction to that was pretty...intense, actually, though he couldn't be sure since she'd started smiling that really scary smile that girls could do for some reason, and told him to go out and play before tearing into Garp for...a whole bunch of things he couldn't really remember, to be honest. But it had been great, and he'd been allowed to take a break from his grandpa's crazy training for a while, so that was good….the broken arm, on the other hand, hadn't been so good, and definitely  _not_  fun…

(The question of how he'd managed to break his arm when it was  _rubber_  was a  _whole 'nother question entirely_ …)

* * *

"A...Marine…?" Somehow managing to get the words out, Luffy wasn't quite prepared for the yelling that occurred in response to that.

"Luffy-san!" Tears still running down his face (it was kind of gross, to be honest, but it wasn't  _his_  face that was running, so whatever. Cuz snot and tears on his face felt really icky and disgusting after it starting drying -or 'congealing' as his smarter siblings would say- but that was another matter), Pinky turned to him, a surprisingly determined expression on his face that brought a slightly smile to his face the more he listened.

"I know it means we'll be enemies, but-! But  _joining the Marines and catching the bad guys has always been my dream!_ " He exclaimed, apparently unaware of the slightly laugh that had escaped the taller teen's mouth. "Do you think I can do it?!"

Starting to like the scrawny, wimpy guy despite himself, Luffy really couldn't help the grin as he honestly answered. "I dunno!"

Thankfully, it seemed that Pinky- no,  _Coby_  had already found the answer to that question himself, though.

"I have to at least try! I-  _I'd rather die trying to get out of here and join the Marines… that to stay here and be a caretaker for the rest of my life!_ " He shouted, voice raising in volume as his determination truly began to solidify. "And then, Alvida-sama…" Taking a breath as he quieted for a moment, he announced the words that would either damn him or save him in the next few moments, though it might depend on the person's perspective.

"I'll  _definitely catch and arrest Alvida!_ " He exclaimed, unaware of said person getting closer and closer, to the two as he spoke.

 _CRASH_.

Well, at least until the roof shattered and began to rain down on them, anyway...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: This story has now been continued!
> 
> To be honest, this is more of a pilot/prologue chapter, but is still canon to this universe. We probably won't reach Luffy setting sail for a while yet, though, since we'll be heading back and starting off with the childhood arc from here.
> 
> Anything more I'll save for the relevant chapters, I suppose.


	2. Dear Diary... (Age 04)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Dear Diary...I Mean...Journal" aka: "A Snapshot of Life (at Age 04)" (alternative: Childhood Arc I, Part I)  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> While playing outside, Luffy feels a worrying twinge of something in the bond he shares with his sister. Lal, meanwhile, airs some grievances and worries into the only thing she can trust not to speak.
> 
> Still, it's not like she hates this life-style, even if they've had to be more independent than most children their supposed age. There's only one thing in this world she can cling to, after all, and she doesn't think she'll be letting go any time soon... if at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I did end up deciding to continue this, but found myself writing more about their childhood than canon, since I realized there were too many options going that way for now. Since this is an impromptu decision, I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to post things, but I can tell you it won't necessarily be in order.
> 
> And Omakes and Extra's (whether they're Chapters, Short Pieces, or One-shots) will be posted in a separate work -or works, depending on whether there ends up being a running theme- under a new series when I get to it. I do actually have quite a few written (mostly parodies and such), but there are quite a few spoilers, to be honest.
> 
> I leave the notes as is for now, since this one's short, but I'll continue the less important stuff at the bottom so you can enjoy the new addition, I suppose.

* * *

**Age 04.**

Loud laughter filtered into the house as a single rambunctious child ran about the home, clearly high on either adrenaline or sugar as he imitated various noises he’d heard in the course of his short life. This boy was Monkey D. Luffy, the young and future Pirate with dreams of being the free-est person the world would ever see… The _Pirate King_.

For now, however, he was just a four year old child living his life, day to day as many did. Though, as he ran down the hall of their three bedroom house, another small head poked itself out from the room they shared and slept in.

“Luffy…! What have I said about running in the house…?”

This time, it was a little girl, almost identical to the laughing boy in all but demeanor, as she sported a serious look and a small frown. Halfway down the hall, already, Luffy skid to a stop right in front of her, still grinning, but far more sheepish this time.

“Shishishi…. Eh… Not to?” he offered, the grin turning apologetic but no less happy, as he rocked onto his heels, hands clasped behind his back as he gave his female reflection the most innocent look that he could, eyes wide.

The girl clearly knew the boy better than that, however, and gave him a look despite the sigh she gave that indicated forgiveness despite herself. “That’s right. What if you broke something?” she pointed out, glancing at a vase that was probably one of the few remaining ‘fragile’ and ‘feminine touches’ (that were probably done by their grandmother before her death, if the girl had any guesses), “Grandpa would get mad, wouldn’t he?”

Gasping at the thought, this time the boy’s eyes widened in fear. “ _Angry Grandpa is Scary…_ ” he all but breathed the words, the whisper still loud enough to carry, as he paled, shoulders slumping.

“Exactly, so don’t run around the house, okay? I know you’re bored, but it’s just for a little bit longer, right…?” she promised, “It’s not like I can stop Grandpa from getting mad, after all…”

Shoulders slumping as he nodded, Luffy voiced his agreement. “Yeah… Sorry, Lallie…” Even if she didn’t say so, he could still tell that his running and noise-making had probably bothered her anyway. Because no matter what she did and didn’t say, Luffy could still _feel_ it. Just like he could feel the moment she’d forgiven him, and just like she’d been able to feel the remorse in his words.

They were twins, after all, and twins shared a bond beyond all others, one that couldn’t be changed… Even if Lal was apparently actually ‘older’ because of various reasons he still couldn’t really understand, but Lallie had never lied to him, so he believed her.

Even if the idea of rebirth and re-in-car-nay-shin was weird and confusing.

Another sigh, this time accompanied by a wave of _forgiveness-exasperation-love-amusement_ and a hand on his head. Peeking up through his bangs, he saw that his twin was smiling and beamed back, radiating his own feelings of _joy-love-happiness_ as the prior depression laced remorse practically disappeared.

Ruffling his hair despite his protests, she started speaking again. “It’s okay, I know you’re bored… but I promise it won’t take too much longer, okay? So why don’t you go run around and play outside?” she asked, an almost maternal look that shouldn’t have suited such a small child on her face. “I’ll let you know when I’m done, and then we can have lunch, and I can tell you another story after, how about it?”

As _joy-excitement-promise?_ practically radiated from the person as well as the connection they shared between them, she figured she really needn’t have asked, as the already bright look on her twin’s face turned brilliant.

“Alright!” shouting his excitement to what seemed to be the whole world, the four year old cheered. Clearly her attempts at bribery had worked, possibly too well, as starry eyes shone at her (how he managed to do that, Lal would never know, twin or not). “We can have meat right?” he all but pleaded, knowing that there was still some in the fridge, since Lal had forbidden him from having it for breakfast for this very reason. Even going so far as to make him _promise_ and a real man never broke a promise! So she had to keep her promise too, right?! “And a story! Will it be a _magic_ story again? Or the mystery one?!”

Chuckling (though it was really more of a giggle at this stage) at the silliness of her brother and his antics as he started babbling, and gesticulating wildly about his preferences, Lallie spoke up again, sending _calm-amusement-shhhh_ down their connection (which had been weird at first, seeing as she had never been a _twin_ before, even if she’d been a _sister_ ) to not only quiet him down, but to catch his attention, as well. “Why don’t I let you choose once lunch is over? And yes, we’ll have the meat for lunch,” she promised, almost fascinated as she watched her brother mellow down a bit, even if he still practically vibrated with excitement, if the stars that were still in his eyes were any indication. “So why don’t you go out and play? And if you manage to find and bring back any meat, we can have that for dinner, too.”

“Alright! Meat! Story! Meat!” Throwing his hands up into the air in excitement, the boy started running off, before pausing as a wave of _admonishment-a_ hem _-amusement_ ran down their bond. Turning and smiling sheepishly at his sister, he waved and called out an apology before -with clear effort- making his way out of the house at a much slower pace…

As she watched her brother, Monkey D. Lallie, once known by another name in another world, couldn’t help but to feel some amusement and fondness (which she allowed to radiate through their bond along with forgiveness and the usual exasperation and indulgence, even if it still felt a little weird that said connection existed at times). Honestly, that child…

Sighing, as she turned back into the room the twins shared (one room having been reserved for Garp whenever he returned, and a guest room that may or may not have, at some point, been the room their _father_ had once slept in), she walked back towards the writing desk that had been pushed against the wall of other side of the room, passing her own neatly made bed, and detouring a bit to fix another wrinkle in her brother’s bedsheets on the other side of the room. It was the only side that really had anything pinned onto the walls.

To any other person, the room might have been rather sparse, especially considering the fact that two children lived in it, but it wasn’t like either of them really needed all that much. Garp had been the one to pin the Marine flag on the wall anyway, and Luffy spent more time outside of their room than in it.

Still, it was theirs, and Lal, at least, used it for something other than simple sleep and clothes storage. Even if only for the privacy to write, if nothing else. It was just fact that if Luffy was forced to stay still for too long, he would end up complaining and making things worse until no one got anything done, especially with the naturally short attention span he held (much like their Grandfather, in fact). Which probably explained why Lal was typically the one to take care of the ‘dangerous’ chores, like cooking, or the more boring ones (though she did try to get Luffy to at least help now and then in an effort not to spoil him too much) like sweeping or cleaning.

As it was, the time she’d reserved before lunch (usually prepared quickly enough, despite Luffy’s voracious appetite, even at this age), was usually free time for the both of them, where Lal could write without (much) interruption, and Luffy could… Well, run around and play, as he waited for lunchtime to come. After which would be a story and then nap time, once Luffy exhausted enough energy to stay still for a while.

Lal, being the more mature of the two, had already prepped most of the things she’d need to make lunch around the time it had been breakfast (hence why she’d had to warn her brother off the ingredients for it), meaning that for the moment, for this hour nearly every day, she could be left alone to _write_ . To keep record and to make record of all the things she could remember. (The only other time being about a half-hour before their decided ‘bedtime’, and before Lal or Makino-san, or whoever was around, got Luffy to settle down by inciting ‘story time’.) Though she hadn’t been doing so for very long, the time spent each day simply sitting at her desk and writing (because, let's face it, Luffy wasn’t about to start writing or reading a lot if he could help it, not when he could actually go out and have _adventures_ ), had filled several journals already, once she got used to writing again rather than the far faster method of typing…

Sitting in front of the most recent journal now, Lal stared at the cover, pen in hand as she remembered what had started the decision to do such a thing to begin with. Though she didn’t often read through what she’d read aside from ensuring there were no grammatical or written errors, that didn’t mean she didn’t sometimes reread things. The more important things (for the moment) were usually remembered well enough, but she always spent some time thinking about it.

About her past, the present, and even the possible future that could come about, from the moment she’d realized exactly what had happened (if she still didn’t the hows and whys).

Sighing, and taking a deep breath to get herself going again, she her attention back to one of the three different journal types she’d started to keep. Turning to the most recent page, she skimmed the words written before lifting the pen to write once more...

—    ☙ ◆ ❧    —

_Xth Date of X Month, (approx.) 8 Years Post GPA (Great Pirate Age)._

_Entry #XX_

_The weather is pretty sunny so far, I assume it’ll keep up as such. The temperature is warm, but not too hot. And Luffy is being very much himself, running about and shouting now and then. Probably finding this and that new thing, if the excitement running through our bond is any indication._

_Honestly, I still don’t understand it, or this situation, but there’s not much I can do but make the best of it. Even if the only one I can currently trust to tell is above-mentioned twin. He’s terrible at keeping secrets, so I suppose it’s only natural I turn to writing journals… or keeping a diary, as the case may be. It’s not like I can tell anyone else, after all, and who would believe it?_

_That I have a head full of memories (which I assume are my own, seeing as they’re from_ my _POV) that don’t belong to ‘Monkey D. Lallie’ but to what I assume is a prior incarnation of myself? It’s not as if I can explain the hows or whys, after all. As it is, I’ve already resigned myself to just accepting things as they are, even if the truth of the matter is so unbelievable a thing, even to me._

_To think that I would suddenly find myself ‘reincarnated’ into the world of One Piece, a manga written by Oda Eiichiro-sensei in the other world that I remember._

_If anyone were to hear such a thing, I’d probably be considered crazy. Or would it simply be considered something strange that only a D. could come up with? I wonder… I still don’t know what the D. in the Will of D. stands for, but it’s not like I can find out so easily._

_All I have now is theory and conjecture that I can’t even share with anyone._

_Not even Luffy._

_But… There’s that too, isn’t there? Rebirth into what should have been a fictional world is one thing, but being born the twin of the future ‘main character’? Honestly, it’s rather unbelievable that such a thing could happen, but it has, and my only theory is that parallel worlds really do exist, or else_ _something_ _’s happened to the world I once knew to become this one. (Void Century, maybe?)_

_As it is, it’s been a trial and a half simply getting to a point where bodily functions are all controllable, and I would rather not think much more on it. Aside from the fact that, somehow, I’ve come to accept things as they are._

_…_

_But that doesn’t help when it comes to the future, does it…? What exactly can I do to ensure that Luffy can stay the happy-go-lucky person that he is? It… It scares me, sometimes._

_Because I already know that it’s too late for me to detach myself._

_Because I already know that I’m attached to these people... -these supposedly fictional characters that are, all of a sudden, all_ _real_ _people._

_From Garp, to Makino, to every other person I’ve met or have yet to meet (Ace, Dragon, Sabo, Law, and Luffy’s own future crew). People that I can no longer view objectively as simply ‘characters’ or ‘ideas’, because, all of a sudden, they’re so,_ _so_ _real…_

_Garp, or rather, Grandpa, or Jii-chan._

_Makino, or Makino-san… sometimes Makino-nee-chan or Maki-nee._

_Mayor Woop Slap, who’s like an uncle to us. Who was (probably) meant to be more for comedic value, but who clearly, truly, cares about_ _us_ _and takes things so seriously_ _because_ _he cares._

_Even Bogard-san, a previously mysterious and supposedly minor character who only ever appears beside Garp. Bogard-san, who is often overshadowed, who helped practically raise us, and kept Jii-chan from going overboard or causing some accident with two infants just because he didn’t really know better._

_(I’m still amazed that Dad turned out so ‘well’. You really would think he’d know better considering he raised our father...though I guess it explains a lot about how our father got to be the way he is… I can only hope that Ace is faring better with Dadan if things followed the ‘canon’ story-line up to_ _our_ _birth, at least. Operating with the fact that it might very well_ _not_ _be, but I kind of both hope and don’t hope it will.)_

_Maki-nee comes by often enough, and tends to worry a lot. Though, I would too, I suppose, if I knew that two small children, not even five yet, and technically having only_ recently _turned four, were living in a house all by themselves…_

_Well, I would if I didn’t know that one of them had twenty plus years or so of memories inside their head. But I think she’d still worry about us even if she knew… I guess that’s what makes her so special, though, even if it’s only to us._

_She’s always so patient and kind… I really can’t help admiring her, y’know?_

_Still, being stuck in a child’s body (let alone an infant’s, prior to that) is really weird. Sometimes I’ll still reach for something, thinking my limbs are a lot longer, if I’m thinking about the ‘past’ too much… But the weirdest thing is probably still the connection between me and Luffy, one that shouldn’t exist, but still does._

_The fact that I’m a_ _twin_ _and not just a regular sibling or person is weird enough, sometimes. Especially since birth mortality rates are a lot higher here, as far as I can tell. Twins are especially rare._

_I think the only ones I remember are…_

_I don’t remember their names, actually. But those twins in… was it a filler arc? Those magnet fruit twins…_

_(Which is pretty weird, too, but I guess if the fruit were magnetic or attracted to each other or something, and they found it…? Those weird bounty hunters… they were a family, weren’t they…? I can’t remember all the details right now…)_

_Well, whatever. So far, though, things seem to going about as well as I can remember from Luffy’s past prior to meeting Shanks or the boys. Grandpa does take Luffy out to train sometimes, I don’t know why he doesn’t take me too, but I guess I’m grateful for it. Maybe it’s because I expressed a more pacifist view unlike Luffy’s, or didn’t say that I wanted to be a pirate (I really, really wish Luffy would think things through a little more before announcing these things, especially to grandpa). That doesn’t mean I don’t worry, of course, but against an opponent that won’t listen (or at least, not very often) to logic, it’s really hard to argue a point._

_Though thankfully, I managed to get him to tone down the violence around the house…_

_That… might have been due to me bursting out in tears that one time, though. Embarrassing, but it worked, even if I didn’t mean to end up doing it… Grandpa and Luffy are both really bad at dealing with crying girls. I think it’s probably because Grandpa’s on the more chivalrous side towards girls, or maybe Tsuru-baa-chan (I’d feel weird just calling her Tsuru or Granny, after all, since we… I don’t think we’ve met her, or at least don’t remember it) has something to do with it? I don’t know, but I think I ended up being calmed down by Bogard-san in the end. (Being a kid with kid-feelings and emotional reactions is a bit troubling sometimes, but…)_

_Honestly, I’m… not quite sure where Bogard-san fits in our little misfit family. He’s definitely the one to keep Grandpa out of trouble most of the time, and he’s always really nice, if resigned to certain things (both Luffy and Grandpa are super stubborn after all, and so similar in an almost ironic manner considering one wants to be a Pirate, and the other’s a Marine Hero). He’s not really a big brother, but he’s not really old enough to be our Uncle, either..._

_I guess it’s okay, though, since he seems fine being just ‘Bogard-san’. (Then again, I’m not sure any sane person would want to be considered ‘related’ to Jii-chan, especially not when over half of the family seems to be clinically crazy….I’m...still not sure if I count towards that, but since I guess it’s more of a ‘functional’ sort of strangeness, and weird quirk…? I don’t know.)_

_All I really know is that I care about all of them, and probably love them all, too. It’s hard not to, when everyone’s usually so nice and caring for the most part._

_…_

_I still can’t help worrying about the future, though… I just hope my existence here doesn’t make things ‘worse’ if canon is still followed. I know I shouldn’t rely on such iffy information, but… Well, I think… unless proven otherwise…_

_I don’t know, it’s just… so hard not to believe these things will happen. I can already see the future Luffy in mine, and I…_

_Maybe it’s selfish. Maybe I just care too much, but…_

_I really, really don’t want them to get hurt. I don’t want the people I care about to feel even a fraction of such despair…_

_But what can I even do about it…?_

_What can a single girl, possibly crazy and/or armed with potential future knowledge do? Even if things happened similarly enough for me to stop this or that situation, there’s still butterfly effect to think about. What if I mess up?_

_…_

_What if I make things_ worse _?_

_… Ugh, and now I’m crying. I really hope I don’t stay like this forever. Sympathetic crying is one thing… but if this is how it’s like for Luffy, it’s no wonder he got touted as such a crybaby...in the future?_

_Eck. No, I can’t think about these sort of things. Especially not with the connection between me and Luffy… At least, not until I learn to block certain things out, from my side at least._

_I can already feel the surge of worry and an attempt at (probably) comfort from_ Luffy _, from my  _ _little brother_ _of all people. I can’t think about failure or all those negative things that might end up hurting Luffy._ _Especially_ _not Luffy._

_I’ve been an older sibling before. For most of my life, I remember, I was the eldest. I wasn’t the best sister, and probably not the best sibling (or daughter), but I did try…_

_Just like I can only try my best now._

_I can already hear Luffy coming back towards the house, even with the reassurance I tried sending back towards him to let him know I’m okay. He’s such a sweet child, and even if he doesn’t realize his faults sometimes, that’s okay. Because he’s still young, and he’s still growing._

_And I won’t let anyone hurt or warp him into the him that he was when Ace died (dies? Might’ve died?) at Marineford._

_I won’t let it happen…_

**_I won’t let him feel that kind of hurt_ ever _if I can help it._ **

_… I better stop writing now, maybe prepare lunch so I can distract him from worrying too much. I don’t ever want him, or anyone else I care about hurt, especially not like…_

_Like_ _that_ _…_

_And I’ll do everything I can to prevent that._

_I swear it…_

Monkey D. Lallie

_Formerly, A Girl from Another World..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And...cut! As you've all probably noticed, there is a journal entry (hence the title). I'm not sure if they're going to be in all of the chapters, but we'll see, I suppose. I actually have a few potential chapters and extra's written out. Some are spoiler-ish, while others feel incomplete or need to be revamped before I can post them.
> 
> At the moment, I'm thinking one journal entry per chapter, but that might not end up holding true. It won't necessarily end up being in chronological order, though I do have a preference for it to be so. (We'll see where the Muses take us, though.)
> 
> Meanwhile, as mentioned due to spoilers, I'll have to decide whether to post some of the extra's early or not. Especially since I'm not sure whether they'll end up being canon to this universe. (I can tell you there's one that I'm tentatively going to be calling "Disney Musicals (At Sea)" that contain a lot of potential post time-skip spoilers though (Poor, Poor Law). 
> 
> If you guys want me to post them, just let me know. Otherwise those are going to be a long, long time coming considering we are currently pre-canon (or prologue, if we're going by manga) and will likely be for a while yet. Especially considering how much happens before even meeting the rest of ASL, let alone what happens during and after their part of the childhood arc.
> 
> Some things will remain canon, but other things will change. There'll even be some options (for my dear readers, however many of you there are) for certain points in the story (what I like to call "branching points" or "branching AU's". Such as the option of having Gin join the crew or not, among other things). Because there's a lot we could do with this story, and I can see a lot of different points that could cause quite a few changes courtesy of an ever-growing Butterfly Effect.
> 
> I'll end with that on that note before it gets any longer though. But for those that are interested, yes, there will be romance, but it will be very slow going and it'll likely be slow burn. I make no guarantees since sometimes the Muses decide to trash everything and turn the plotting I've done so far upside-down (and considering I have a LOT planned, that is a very unfortunate possibility). But I do have a certain character in mind for any future romances, Lal-wise. Everything else is really up in the air, considering all the branching points and AU's that could be built off of those alone.
> 
> In any case, this has been a very length note, so I'll end this here. Anything else can be discussed/noted later.
> 
> Ciao, all! Expect the next Childhood Chapter sometime soon, if all goes well. And again, do give me feedback if you can, I can't read minds, let alone over long distances or through the internet unless someone says something. Love it, hate it, whatever works.
> 
> I'll keep writing, but if no one's interested, then updates will definitely remain slow as I write, rewrite, trash, and rewrite things even more. (More importantly, I need to know if people are interested in omake/side stories/etc., or else those things are gonna stay sitting in my documents and collecting digital dust if no one says anything.)
> 
> I'll probably have to re-read and do self-editing again later once I've gone on a mistakes hunt, but considering how long I've been sitting on this and re-reading as well as editing/fixing it, hopefully it'll be fine. (We'll see though. I always tell myself not to post past midnight, but I still do it anyways, so it's at least clear enough that I don't learn from those mistakes...)
> 
> And yes, there are cameo's/references to different (actual/copyrighted) series, that may or may not show up, in this. Feel free to name whatever you catch...or guess, fufu...


	3. Dear Diary... (Age 05)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Dear Diary...I Mean...Journal (II)" aka: "Another Snapshot of Life (at Age 05)" (alternative: Childhood Arc I, Part II)  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> Garp's returned on visitation. Poor Luffy is dragged off for 'training', and Lal does her best to prepare a veritable army's worth (especially considering the two black holes she has to feed now) of food. Bogard, meanwhile, finds himself musing just a bit on the oddities of both his superior and said superior's family.
> 
> And at the end of it all, Lallie writes an update, referencing several different shows/series in her daily Dia—er, Journal Entry at the end of another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, the next chapter has been posted. Another snapshot (or pseudo-snippet) one, but things will get a bit more serious from here out. 
> 
> And this should probably be expected, but I don't own ONE PIECE. That honor belongs to Oda Eiichiro-sensei...
> 
> (Also, the usual warning/note: Everything is beta'd by myself, so any mistakes may not be caught until later, sorry.)

**Age 05.**

Grandpa was visiting. Luffy couldn’t help but to feel somewhat anxious about the visit, mostly because he didn’t like training, but aside from that and his insistence that Luffy be a _Marine_ (like he’d ever, he was gonna be a Pirate, damn it!), he really wasn’t all that bad.

(Except when he was angry. Jii-chan was scary enough, even without being mad.)

Of course, Jii-chan was a lot nicer when they were at home, but when it came to training… It felt like the old man never let up. Maybe it was because nee-chan would get upset if he did, or maybe it was because she’d start crying sometimes if they fought.

Luffy hated seeing his sister cry, she rarely did it, even when Luffy himself started crying, but people she cared about fighting would almost always guarantee the tears, and a weird sort of angry-sad feeling, except that it wasn’t at _them,_ it was at herself (which was weird, because  _they_ were the ones doing it). Like it was somehow  _her_ fault for not being able to stop it. And it wasn’t. It _wasn’t_ her fault, but he could never explain why or how, and it only ended up with both of them getting upset, and he _hated_ it.

(He didn’t even hate vegetables all that much… at least, not when Lal or Makino made them… most of the time, anyway.)

He and Jii-chan never knew what to do when it happened, though, and it always made him feel bad. He thinks that it probably makes Jii-chan feel bad too, if the weird reaction he has says anything about it.

But she always seems to forgive them, even if it was only as long as they stop fighting, so that was good at least.

It still made them feel guilty, but Luffy had come to learn in the few short years of his life, that there was something about _girls_ (because Makino-nee could do it too! And really wasn’t fair...) that made you feel bad if you made them upset.

That… wasn’t really what he was worried about right now, though. Nope.

He was more worried about the impending ‘training trip’ that Grandpa had loudly planned to take him on earlier in the day. Lal hadn’t been too happy about it, but there really wasn’t anything either of them could do to stop him, so she’d been just as resigned as he was. Except that he was currently _in hiding_ to try to avoid the trip for as long as he could.

Thankfully, he’d remembered to take some snacks, and had gotten some food from Lal before heading off, but it wasn’t that much, and Luffy had already finished it all, even the veggies and carrot sticks and dip. (Veggies were a lot tastier when they didn’t taste like veggies, to be honest. He still didn’t like them very much, but Lallie knew lots of ways to make them not taste bad or taste like veggies, so that made it okay, he supposed...)

Unfortunately, even as he started thinking about his hunger and started feeling even more hungry cuz of it, he didn’t even have the time to contemplate the idea of going back into the house —to try to sneak some food— before he found himself being lifted out the tree he’d been hiding in.

Yelping, he started struggling even before the familiar laugh boomed in his ears.

“Dahahaha! There you are! Found ya, y’little rascal!”

There, in all his glory (and still holding him up midair by the collar with overwhelming ease, even despite only having used a single large hand, as he started kicking and struggling), was Monkey D. Garp. The aging Marine still had some black in his hair yet, but even then, there was more white than black, and more white in his hair than the last time he’d visited.

(Which, really, had only been a few months ago. But as far as the child was concerned, it had been a long time ago.)

“Gah! Jii-chan, let go~~!” Practically whining as he failed to even touch the man, he huffed and crossed his arms, sulking and leveling the man with his hardest glare (which really wasn’t very, and looked more like pouting than glaring), legs crossed as well as he dangled from a giant paw.

“Bwahaha! Nope! We’re going to go train now, Luffy! So no can do!” Still laughing, he started walking towards the forest where the monkeys resided.

Panicking and almost wailing (he managed to hold it in, though, cuz it wasn’t really going to help and might actually make grandpa mad), Luffy started flailing again, yelping when he felt himself being swung about like a lunchbox as the large man headed off. “What?! Bu-But I haven’t eaten yet!”

Snack notwithstanding. (Veggies didn't count as a snack, though!)

“Dahaha! Too bad! You’ll have to wait til training’s over before you can come back and eat!” Eyes glinting at the thought, the man grinned. “I hear Lallie-chan’s going to making a feast~!” He whispered almost conspiratorially to the boy, who paused in his struggles.

“...Feast…?”

Eyes starry and drool running down his face, his expression almost matched his grandfather’s.

“Bwahahaha! That’s right! So you better train hard, Luffy! Or you won’t be able to eat any of it!”

Getting an actual wail in response this time, as well as childish cursing and yelling, Garp just laughed. He didn’t mean it of course, seeing as Luffy was still a growing boy and would need all the food he could get to get big and strong. Of course, that didn’t mean he couldn’t use it as incentive.

Especially when it rarely failed to work.

(The only time having been back when the boy had just been starting his training regimens and hadn’t really understood much of the actual concept of it. Well, aside from the fact that he hadn’t liked it. Young enough that he could still throw something close to a tantrum, wailing and crying enough at the new situation that even Garp had taken pity. Not quite sure where he’d gone wrong, though he'd somehow managed to beat it out of the kid quick before he made it a habit.)

Food was always a good motivator for a Monkey, after all...

—    ☙ ◆ ❧    —

Back in the Monkey house, Lal tried to ignore the bursts of emotion going down her connection with her brother. For all that Garp was half-crazy and not all that great a parent, he did honestly care, so she felt comfortable enough letting him drag her brother out into the woods for ‘training’...

Which, thankfully, only amounted to sparring as far as she was aware. Or rather, she really, really _hoped_ it was just sparring, because there wasn’t much she could do about it either way, and the thought of Luffy getting hurt (even if he was rather resilient, as all members of their family seemed to be) was something she couldn’t really let herself think about for too long before she started panicking —among other things.

For now though, she took her time planning out the ‘feast’ she’d have to make, some of it having been decided that morning, and some the night before, as she did her usual notations and mental organization before bed and bedtime stories.

(Garp seemed to like listening to them as well, sometimes, though he tended to interrupt enough that _Luffy_ had started shushing him… or at least tried to, anyway.)

So thankfully for the girl, she had most of it all planned, and some of it prepped, even. Because there was no doubt that the two males were going to come, and come home _hungry_. (Bad enough they were both veritable pits, but Garp’s presence only seemed to encourage Luffy into eating even more. And even if she understood the concept he was trying to teach, she still thought he was going about it the wrong way.)

Thankfully, she had Bogard-san’s help, even if she refused to let anyone else try to cook in _her_ kitchen… with the exception of Makino-san, since she at least knew the woman could cook for sure. (Maybe occasionally Woop Slap-jiji… hey, Luffy’s nicknames were surprisingly catchy sometimes, okay? It wasn’t like she meant to be rude… It was an endearment, really!)

Luckily, Bogard-san, seeming to understand her need to be ‘independent’ —at least in this regard, and having seen her in the kitchen long enough to feel comfortable letting the child cook by herself. Not to say that it didn't still worry him, because it did, of course— had instead gone out to acquire more foodstuff for the bottomless pits so she could prepare enough for everyone, setting aside portions for herself and Bogard-san for lunch. Possibly supper, even, depending on when her brother and grandfather got back.

Of course, though she _could_ cook, that didn’t mean she could reach the stove by herself. She _was_ still only five, after all, no matter that she’d done her own ‘training’ when she could to avoid dragging her brother and the rest of her family down (whether the boys ended up adopting Luffy again, or even including her was iffy, but regardless of the matter, as long as they were considered family, she wouldn’t let herself drag any of them down. Not matter how frustrating the process could be at times). No matter who it was.

Even if she was a bit stronger than the average person (being just a bit stronger than Makino now, which was apparently already somewhat impressive, considering her age —though not so surprising considering her genes here), that didn’t mean she was taller, as well. Hence the perfectly flat, rectangular crate that served as platform so she could see over the stove —and counter— and actually _cook._

Thankfully, her rather eclectic interests from  _before_ came in quite handy as she used this or that tidbit of knowledge to her advantage. At the moment, it was cooking knowledge. Something she’d only continued building upon thanks to Makino and her willingness to share recipes and the like. Which, really, was only one of the reasons she was so confident she could get it all done on her own (most of it being experience at this point).

Even if she were to be offered the help of some of the marines that still hung around even while their jii-chan was ‘on vacation’ (so to speak), she wouldn’t have taken it.

It _had_ been offered before, but she had her pride, even if she was still —technically speaking— 'only a child'.

After so many years (or rather, just a few, though it had felt like an  _eternity_  to her then-infantile mind), it was _nice_ being able to do things that she’d been able to do for about twenty years or so prior to her ‘rebirth’. The frustration of having to rely on others for things she’d been able to do before her displacement… Well, it had been agonizing to say the least.

And now, after taking care of Luffy for so long (for the most part), she’d be damned if she let anyone try to 'help' just because they thought she was ‘too young’. She had her pride, and seeing as she had been self-sufficient enough even in her prior life (having also been an older sibling that had to watch her brother while both parents were out working most of the time), she refused to take help if she didn’t actually need it.

Not to mention, the awkwardness that would ensue when certain marines decided they didn’t like taking orders from a kid barely a fraction of their size —and age. So even if Lal didn’t particularly end up mind it, there would have been conflict over it regardless. Whether it was from those left behind, or those that were doing whatever they would have ended up doing.

As it was, Lal was preparing the food that could be refrigerated and left cold first, so she wouldn’t have to worry about hot foods getting cold and needing reheating. That would only make everything take longer in the end (and she knew as clearly as she knew that Garp was crazy that neither of her bottomless pits would be patient to wait for it). It was already a job and a half, at minimum, trying to keep up with the appetites of two black holes.

Lal would be damned if anything got delayed when proper planning could have avoided the issue entirely (not when prior experience had already taught her what a bad idea it was. She’d learned her lesson when it came to the men of the Monkey family and food, okay). Mixing a few sauces that would go with —or on— this or that food, or be left as a dip or seasoning, Lal did her best to do what she could with what she had until Bogard-san got back. Likely with a few Marines in tow —to help carry the food— so she’d probably have to whip something up for them, too. Even if they tried to brush it off and go back to their ships for the standard marine-fare.

She was nothing if not stubborn, though, having to deal with Luffy most of the time, let alone Garp when he came by to visit. Besides, all the cooking, movement, and ‘heavy lifting’ could technically be counted as a type of training in the end anyways.

Her arms would definitely be sore by the end of the day, but the more often she did it, the less she'd found it tired her out by the end of it all.

Making sure there’d be enough meat for her brother and grandfather, she took another portion that had been set aside for lunch (which usually happened a bit later nowadays, since ‘breakfast’ typically happened a bit closer to brunch time than actual breakfast time, honestly speaking) and started to actually cook once the ‘cold’ recipes had been taken care of, or at least prepared (leaving the salad dressing to be added just before or when they actually got back to avoid the leaves wilting or getting soggy for one).

Hopefully it’d be enough for herself, Bogard-san, and whatever amount of marines he ended up enlisting —or that ended up volunteering— in helping to carry the rest of the ingredients she would need. As it was, she’d probably end up making a bit too much, but better safe than sorry. No doubt the bottomless pits could end up eating it, or the Marines could take whatever was left over back with them, anyway.

As it was, she’d barely finished making lunch when Bogard-san finally came back.

Needless to say, his sudden arrival startled her, automatically trying to put a cap on the bond she shared with her twin to avoid letting it affect either of them (because she’d long since learned that loop feedback was a _thing **—**_ and it always made things worse, especially when it came to those emotions closer to the negative end of the spectrum) even as she tried to keep concentrated on the cooking so there weren’t any unfortunate _accidents_.

(Luffy was usually kept out of the kitchen when she had to use either the stove or any of the other appliances with which a careless mistake could cause injury with.

Also, because Luffy was ‘accident’ prone in the way that something that had seemed so simple could turn into a huge mess if you didn’t keep a sharp eye on the energetic child, even in what might have seemed the most easy of things to do -case in point, asking him to dress the salad, only to end up with food on the walls and a small fire that had, _thankfully_ , been easily taken care of...unlike a certain prior mistake that had required a complete replacement of the stove _and_ the oven as well as part of the counter, among other things…)

(Needless to say, Luffy was _not_ allowed in the kitchen anymore… At least, not without permission or supervision, anyway...)

—    ☙ ◆ ❧    —

“I’m back, Lallie-san,” despite their ages, Bogard retained an almost neutral, respectful manner towards the grandchildren of his ‘boss’. Whether it was out of respect for Garp, or simply because he was naturally that polite was a question that many people had asked. 

To a certain granddaughter of the Marine Hero Garp, however, it was just something typical if awkward in which she almost constantly had to remind him not to do...pretty much every time they saw each other, almost.

Still, it wasn’t to say that the sudden unexpected sound being made didn’t surprise her. (She was pretty sure she’d squeaked a little, even if she’d never admit it. Her grip on the salad bowl she'd been mixing may or may not have been a bit tight, as well. Again, not that she'd _say_ so, let alone imply it.) Turning to the man, she sighed, the tenseness that had appeared at the sudden call releasing itself as she realized what had happened.

“A-ah… Bogard-san… Welcome back!” She greeted, carefully placing the salad (thankfully _not_ having been up-ended. That would have just been a spectacular waste of food, after all. Not even mentioning the time spent on clean-up that could have been used to cook some more) on the counter, before hopping off the chair she’d been standing on to overlook one of the counters. “And just Lallie is fine, you know,” she reminded the man, almost without thought now, from how many times she’d had to remind him.

“...My apologies… Lallie…-chan,” he compromised, not quite willing to just drop the honorific, even if he’d had a hand in practically raising the two kids. “Did you want us to put or arrange the ingredients anywhere in particular?” he continued, a bit more worried about letting the large amount of meat they’d just brought back sit out for too long rather than the usual ‘argument’ for lack of a better word.

“Oh, yeah, just put it all by the sink if you can! I’ll sort everything out after lunch,” she promised. They’d be sitting in a marinate anyway, so it wasn’t much of a problem to let it sit out a bit longer. It’d all be cooked, anyway. Not to mention that it was cooler on that side of the room **—** if only because the sea brought a breeze in from that side that usually kept it cooler… well, when the fire wasn’t on anyway.

“Ah, I see.” Nodding in affirmation, the man motioned towards the small ~~army~~  handful of men he’d brought along to help ‘carry’ some of the groceries. It had been a bit difficult just to choose a few, ironically enough, as those that had been on the ship for a while knew how things would turn out, seeing as it usually happened about —if not exactly— the same.

No matter what, those that ‘volunteered’ or ‘helped’ would end up being invited to stay for lunch. One which would consist of food that was definitely a break from the usual marine's fare on the ship. And it wasn’t like the girl was a bad cook.

There was also the fact that, unlike her brother (who didn’t mean to be rude, but still ended up being so at times), the girl was polite and quite willing to accommodate others despite the amount of food she had to prepare for a single meal just for the male members of her family.

It was why he never allowed more than a handful of others to help, and never mentioned any of it to Lallie. Because knowing her, the moment she found out, she'd feel duty-bound to take it upon herself to try to make food for the entire ship when they already had a decent fare. Somewhat repetitious a menu at times, but perfectly good nonetheless. And it wasn’t like there were very many restaurants in town, either, seeing as Party’s Bar was the closest thing to one that existed in the village. And _that_  was run by Makino herself, who did both the cooking and the serving.

There was no way he was going to overload the kind woman with that many people. Especially not when she was the one who typically looked in on the kids while Garp was gone (which was more often than not, of course) as well as ensured that the Monkey family was well fed when she could. So while he might allow groups to go at a time, there were honestly too many people on board the navy issued ship that Garp led, considering his rank and stature, to allow all of them to simply go as they wished.

As was, it was almost on cue when she spoke up again, thanking each of the Marines even if she didn’t know all their names (Bogard being one of the few to have that pleasure, since they saw him about as much as they saw their grandfather...when he wasn’t busy running the ship in Garp’s absence that was… And even when he _wasn’t_ absent, if he was being honest).

“Um, thanks for helping, everyone! I just finished making lunch, if you’d all like to stay and eat before heading back?”

Polite as ever, the ‘angel’ (as some of the longer lasting members of the crew had dubbed her, considering the ‘devil’ that they considered her grandfather... And even if he didn’t mean to, Luffy had too much energy and the tendency to be a bit of a hellion, even if his twin would deny it. And wholeheartedly as well) got a few halfhearted refusals as was polite, only to be all but forced to stay, as she frowned and spoke in a firmer tone. “No, you all helped me a lot, so the least I can do is feed you before you head back! Please, don’t worry about it. Stay and eat, okay? I’d feel bad if I didn’t do something, at least. It’s not like I could have carried everything myself, after all!”

Which was true, there was no way she could carry enough to feed _both_ her grandfather and her brother...at least, not in anywhere close to one sitting.

“Bogard-san, too! I prepared a lot for lunch this time! And it’s not like Grandpa and Luffy are here to be able to eat it,” she pointed out, directing them all to the recently washed plates that had prepared —and what looked to be a small spread that they could pick and choose from before heading outside to eat. Especially seeing as the kitchen table was really too small for _everyone_ to eat at (not to mention all the ingredients and food preparation taking up so much space, as well)…

And she’d already set a table up outside, anyway. It was just—

“Could someone take the salad out too, though? I want to sort some of this before I do anything else,” she explained. Being the cook, she wasn’t nearly as hungry as the men probably were. She did have to do taste tests to ensure everything tasted alright, after all. Still, even if they ate everything, she could just make more (or sneak some of whatever she made).

Either way, it’d make her very happy if the others enjoyed her cooking. If they enjoyed it, then it meant that all the effort would have been worth it, after all.

Besides, she was getting kind of tired, and if she was going to take a nap, she wanted to get all the prep done at least.

Clearly reading her intentions, Bogard sighed, nodding and taking the large salad bowl over to where the men had already started dishing a little of everything onto their plates. Giving them a look that made them all back up and stop squabbling with sheepish expressions, he set the salad down, and, grabbed two plates, preparing a plate for Lallie as well as himself. Because if he knew her as well as he did at this point, he knew exactly how things were going to turn out at this point.

Ignoring one of the men that nearly started protesting (if not for another silencing him before he could, all but hissing what he was doing to the other in a whisper) for making two plates, he nodded to the other men and headed back inside.

No doubt she would be wanting a nap soon, but there was no way he was going to let her do so until she’d at least eaten a bit. Stubborn as she was, he knew she’d see the logic in the intake of energy she’d need processed _before_ she woke up to get started on making food again.

Just like the rest of her family, Lallie was nothing if not _stubborn_ (though she was at least willing to hear him out, unlike Luffy, or -most of the time- their grandfather) and he had no doubt that she would end up organizing and preparing _everything_ before taking a break for herself. Really, it was in this regard that her relation to the rest of her family _really_ shone through…

 _Stubborn child_ , he thought, a slight smile quirking his lips out of an otherwise neutral expression. Especially as he walked into the _exact_ scene he’d come to expect by now.

A quietly murmuring Lallie as she got most of the meat marinated and set into the ice box along with the rest of the vegetables prepared for various use and cooking, as she rehashed whatever plan she’d come up with to satisfy the bottomless pits that were her brother and grandfather.

—    ☙ ◆ ❧    —

_Xth Date of XX Month, (approx.) 9 Years Post GPA (Great Pirate Age)._

_Entry #XXX_

_It’s surprisingly cool today. Pretty unexpected considering how hot it was before, but with all those clouds coming in, I guess the temperature drop makes sense. Based on what I can tell, it might rain soon, though I don’t know exactly when. For all I know the cloud cover could just blow over without dropping any precipitation._

_Hopefully it does rain, though, it’d be nice to have a few guaranteed cool days, at least. Bogard-san said this fall might be rather humid, though. I really hope not, but then he said he couldn’t be absolutely sure, seeing as weather can be a finicky and unpredictable thing, even if it’s a lot ‘calmer’ here in the East Sea. He won’t be around to know for sure, though._

_It’s finally time for Grandpa to go again. Bogard-san says he’s not sure when they’ll be able to make it back again, but that he’ll try to call ahead to let us know. But knowing Grandpa, it’ll be difficult to do. I let Bogard-san know that it’ll be okay if he can’t. Grandpa is Grandpa, after all. (No one can really make him do anything, after all.)_

_I’m kind of sad to see them go, tbh, and I know Luffy is too. Even if he and Grandpa don’t get along all the time, we’re still family, after all. And we all still love each other._

_So it’s really no surprise, I guess._

_At least Luffy won’t have to worry about anymore ‘impromptu’ training trips for a while. I still worry, though. After all, Grandpa_ _is_ _still family, after all. And thus important to us, often absent or not. (Bad at child rearing or not.) Bogard-san and the Marines, too, of course. Some of them like to stop by to visit or just check, and they’re usually pretty nice when we meet them around town. (I dunno if that’s just because Jii-chan is our Grandpa, though.) Still, today was pretty quiet considering that Grandpa’s still here (I really don’t think Grandpa can keep his voice down, trying to be ‘quiet’ or not)._

_We went to Maki-nee’s bar for lunch today, by the way. Something about not making me do all the work, which… I don’t really mind, I guess. It’s pretty nice to eat out once in awhile, though. Less clean-up to do, at least. (Luffy’s too clumsy to leave him alone with slippery dishes as it is, let alone Grandpa who apparently still doesn’t know how to properly control his own strength.)_

_I can’t remember if I mentioned it, since I was really tired yesterday (I can barely read my own handwriting, and it makes me cringe too much to even try reading it right now), but Maki-nee apparently stopped by yesterday while I was still sleepy. She brought some sweets, and got Luffy and Grandpa to save some for me. I had some of them with breakfast today, and they were pretty good, though I had to give most of what they saved for me to Luffy and Bogard-san since I still can’t seem to handle too much sugar at once. (That much, at least, hasn’t really changed, if I’m being honest.)_

_Luffy and Grandpa both said that the food was delicious, at least. So that’s good. There was a bit of yelling when Grandpa found out we didn’t save him any of the leftover sweets, but aside from pouting a bit, I don’t think he was really all that bothered (even if he likes food as much as —and possibly even more than— Luffy does)._

_It was kind of amusing, though, since Makino made some of the vegetables with one of the ‘recipes’ I shared (it wasn’t really so much a recipe as much as it was just an idea, though, something I did_ _before_ _).  Grandpa and Luffy both ate all their vegetables without even realizing it until too late. And Makino and I giggled over it, though that might have been one of the things that had tipped them off… Oops? Eheh, it was still pretty funny though._

_After lunch, Makino joined us with some dessert she apparently prepared, just for today, for storytime. It was nice, though it was hard trying to tell a story and eat icy treats at the same time. (She made sherbet! Though I guess it’s technically not, since there was a bit of milk in it, but it was close enough.)_

_In the end, I had to get them to let me finish most of mine so it wouldn’t all melt, before telling them today’s story. Not really mine, to be honest, but Luffy just likes the edited rendition of Harry Potter I shared with him so much that he wants to hear more about ‘magic-y things’ now. And it wasn’t like I could tell the entire story in one sitting, so it really wasn’t all that hard I guess… Just, more telling segments of it as I can._

_We got pretty far, today, though, and Bogard-san commented that I had quite an imagination._

_I still don’t know if it’s fine to claim one of the stories that was such a childhood classic for me, let alone any of the ones that I was simply ‘retelling’, but… It’s not like I could tell them ‘oh, well, I wasn’t the one who came up with it. I just read it in another lifetime that I totally still remember…’  either, right? It'd sound crazy, wouldn't it? Still, it’s pretty awkward trying to react to these sort of thing anyways, so all I could really do was shrug (and try to write more original ideas down for possible ‘storytime tales’, though I do still want to share all those wonderful stories I remember with Luffy if I can)._

_Aside from that little hiccup, everything was nice, and so peaceful I almost forgot that Grandpa and Bogard-san had to go…_

_At least we got to have nap time before sending them off, though. (Luffy would’ve been a nightmare to deal with otherwise. He just has too much energy, even if it all burns out at a rather impressive rate. Not to mention he’d be all cranky for not getting his nap. Even if said naps are starting to take less and less time...)_

_Still, watching Grandpa and Bogard-san as they waved back at us while the ship departed with the rest of the Marines, I couldn’t help but to feel a little sad. Family is still family, after all._

_But thankfully, I still have Luffy and Makino with me at least._

_And I know Luffy was the one to say it in that other world, but… I can’t help but to think it’s kind of true._

_“ Being alone hurts more than dying… ” he said._

...

_I’m not going to think about those depressing things anymore for today, though._

_Now that Grandpa’s gone, I can go back to following the (vague) plan I came up with. Shanks should be here in about another two years or so. Not until after we turn 7 if I remember right, and if the Bandit thing happens again, I don’t want Luffy to feel sad or hurt because of it. Higuma, or whatever his name is (I’m pretty sure it’s Higuma, but that might just be cuz it sounds like Fuji’s skill...er, tennis move… Am I really using a sports anime as reference for the name of a minor villain…? Well, whatever. Regardless, there’s no way I’m letting that man hurt Luffy if I have anything to say about it. There isn’t enough evidence that things will go like they will in the Canon that I know of. Especially not with my own existence here. So for all I know if Higuma or some other bandit or bad person does show up and tries to kill Luffy,_ _my brother_ _could very well actually die…)_

_I won’t let it happen. Which is why I’m going to have to really start training. _

_I haven’t done much so far, aside from just trying to keep as in shape as a child can be, but since we’re five now..._

_I don’t want to risk anything. No matter if Shanks or Higuma appear or not. I won’t take the chance that Luffy could end up dying or getting hurt if I can help it. Tomorrow, I’ll start preparing for a few short training trips. Maybe I can get Makino-san to take care of Luffy for a bit, especially while I try to practice diving and swimming. At the very least, I can try to teach Luffy to swim, regardless of whether he really is an ‘anchor’ or not. At least, I can try to get him to survive out at sea long enough to get rescued or to rescue himself. _

_As far as I’m aware, even people with Devil Fruits can ‘resist’ for a little while at least, and even a little can be a lot when it comes to life or death situations. Regardless of if he ends up becoming rubber or not._

_If Shanks does come, I’ll have to be prepared._

_Because if I’m not… I—_

_I don’t know what I’ll do if Luffy really does end up setting out to sea. But I know one thing, at least. I won’t just be staying ‘home’ if I can help it. (Even if it's still kind of scary to think about.) Not when the world’s such a dangerous place…_

_Luffy’s my brother, my other half, my_ _twin_ _, and I won’t let him —or anyone else precious to us die or get hurt if I can help it._

_But I better stop here. Luffy’s getting fidgety, and I promised him a story with robots today…_

_I’m afraid I’m not all that good with robot or technology-based stories, so I guess all I can do is use ideas that I’ve already seen or read..._

_One Punch Man might be too soon for him (I don’t want him to try any of the crazy and rather stupid things some of the characters do in that series), so maybe Transformers…_

_Yeah, probably Transformers. There are a bunch of different AU’s for it, so it should be fine, and Luffy loves robots, anyways, so I’m sure he’ll love transforming robots (though I might need to change cars to ships to make it work. Do cars even exist here, anyways?)._

_Maybe if I can remember more of the Super Sentai Series I can tell him some of those at some other time, too…  But for now, I guess it’s more kid-safe giant transforming robots…_

_It’ll probably be hard, trying not to go off just canon events, but I can at least try to plan around anything that might or might not happen at least. I’m not perfect, and I probably won’t catch everything, but…_

_For now, I think preparing for what I can is all I can really do. I’ll try to write more if I can tonight, but if I can’t, then I guess it’ll have to wait until tomorrow…_

Monkey D. Lallie

_A Girl with Goals & A Mission to Accomplish... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things'll start getting more serious/exciting soon. (And yes, as you've probably noticed, the Journal excerpt is from the next day rather than the same day this time.) Lal's made a few mistakes timeline wise (Shanks shows up when Luffy's six and /leaves/ when he's seven, for one), and though she still technically has a year before things start happening, she's going to panic a bit as her plans end up unraveling and things become rushed.
> 
> We'll be deviating from Canonical Events a bit and Lal...may or may not end up having a bit of a breakdown (whoops). If all goes as planned, though, then expect everyone's favorite red-haired rum-loving rogue to finally make his appearance, along with the rest of his rowdy crew~! So look forward to it, please!
> 
> (Also, a prize for anyone who can name all the cameo's/references in the chapter. But only for the first to do it.)


End file.
